Conference Chair
Distinguished delegates
The Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) commends the DG's comprehensive report, "Towards a Renewed Social Contract". It underscores the importance of advancing social justice, freedom, dignity, economic security, equal opportunity and provision of decent work globally.
The SNTUC have been taking actions that are in line with the ILO’s vision. We renewed our “worker’s compact” through a massive engagement exercise in 2023. We are committed to reducing inequality through expanding our Progressive Wage Model and lobbying for enhanced social protection for workers. Our initiatives aim to enhance wages, welfare and work prospects for workers, mirroring the DG's call for a renewed social contract that prioritises equity and inclusiveness.
SNTUC's emphasis on inclusive growth resonates with the ILO’s focus on social dialogue. Our collaborative tripartite approach, involving the government, employers, and unions, has been instrumental in ensuring all stakeholders, including all workers to benefit from economic progress. In 2023, the SNTUC completed our year-long “Every Worker Matters Conversations” (EWMC) exercise which engaged 42,000 workers across all segments of our whole workforce. From the workers’ feedback, we formulated 10 key policy recommendations, several of which have been adopted by the Singapore Government.
These include:
SNTUC has placed strong efforts in structured training and placement, and enhancing social protection for informal workers. In 2023, SNTUC implemented a C U Back at Work Programme to provide flexible training and work arrangements such that informal workers, especially caregivers, can transit back into the workforce more smoothly.
For platform workers, SNTUC secured the Government’s commitment to implement workplace injury compensation and social security contributions for platform workers that are on par with employees. In addition, the Government agreed with our push for the legal right to form a collective representation body for platform workers’ associations will be able to officially negotiate for better outcomes, resolve disputes and sign binding agreements with the platform companies.
SNTUC strongly prioritises upskilling and reskilling initiatives as a key priority, aligning with the ILO's recommendations for future workforce resilience. Since 2019, SNTUC has initiated the forming of “Company Training Committees (CTCs)” between companies and unions to spur individual companies’ transformation and upskilling for their workers to benefit from better wages and work prospects. Since 2022, the Government has set aside S$100 million for SNTUC to scale up the CTCs.To date, we have formed more than 2,100 CTCs across different sectors of Singapore’s economy, and trained more than 200,000 workers through the CTCs. We intend to step up CTC efforts to do much more in the coming years because we have seen good outcomes.
SNTUC is also dedicated to promoting gender equality and enhancing women's participation in the workforce. We support women in balancing work and family commitments, fostering a more inclusive and equitable labour market. Earlier this year, SNTUC was instrumental in the social dialogue process to establish the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests. This ensures that our workers have a formal process to request for flexible working arrangements, and have them properly considered by employers.
In conclusion, the SNTUC is committed to the ILO’s vision. We are committed to “leave no one behind” in our efforts to improve their wages, welfare and work prospects, because Every Worker Matters. Thank You.
